


Raindrops

by TheDragonofHouseMormont



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Bathtubs, F/M, Fluff, Rumbelle Secret Santa, Rumbelle Secret Santa 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3084653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonofHouseMormont/pseuds/TheDragonofHouseMormont
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a storm in Storybrooke and to warm up Belle and Rumple take a cozy, warm bath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Raindrops

**Author's Note:**

> This was for RSS 2014 for rumbellewillruletheworld.tumblr.com  
> Prompt: . “Rumbelle bath time cuddles.” (No smut)
> 
> This fic also has an accompanying playlist for reading/bath needs at http://8tracks.com/gwendolynnby/raindrops-a-rumbelle-secret-santa-mix

The rain poured down Mr. Gold’s face as he rushed from his car to the front door.  He cursed himself for not having an umbrella handy.  The forecast for the day had been chilly and cloudy, but there had been no mention of rain.  Still, he knew he lived in a town where the weather was prone to freak episodes, or rather its citizens were prone to tantrums, and by now he should know to keep an umbrella in the trunk at all times.  He tried to push water out of his eyes as he fumbled with his keys, trying to pick out the right one to open the door.

Inside the house at last, he shut the door behind him and the pounding of rain became only a patter on the windows and walls.  He shook off his jacket, hanging it on the coat rack to dry, and pushed off his wet shoes to leave them by the door.  As he stepped further into the house he realized how silent it was apart from the rain.  He made his way through the living room and into the kitchen looking around for his wife.

The back door burst open, letting in the deafening sound of rain and thunder as Belle practically fell through the doorway, a raincoat with a hood that hid her face, but he knew it was her by her stature and the brown hair that fell from the hood.  ”Belle,” he exclaimed as he rushed forward to help her.  He pushed the hood back from her face.  ”What were you doing outside?”

Belle breathed deeply for a moment before answering, “My laundry was hanging out there and there were the pillows on the bench,” she stopped to breath again.  ”I sort of just grabbed all of it and hauled it into the garden shed.”  Her fingers moved as fast as they could, trying to unzip the raincoat.

Mr. Gold looked over the black raincoat and realized he hadn’t seen it before.  ”I see you have a new coat.”

The zipper pulled down, Belle started shrugging the coat off her shoulders.  Gold stepped around her to help pull it off.  ”Yeah, the rain started a few minutes before I got off work, so after I closed the library I rushed down the street and bought it for my walk home.”

"I could have driven you home after I closed up the shop," Gold said as he draped the soaking wet rain coat over the back of a chair.

She turned around to face him.  ”No, it was fine.  I like walking home, rain or not, and I have a feeling the coat will come in handy over the next few days.  Speaking of which, you don’t happen to know who is responsible for this latest freak weather?”

"Unfortunately not, but that can wait until tomorrow."

She nodded and touched his hand as she had done so many times before without really thinking, but this time she nearly pulled her hand back the instant it touched his.  ”Rum, you’re freezing.”  She stepped closer to him and stroked his face.  ”We’ve got to get you warmed up.”

"You’re not exactly that warm yourself, you know," he grumbled, though not entirely against her affectionate touches.

Belle smiled, her body rocking back a bit as she got an idea.  ”I know how we can get warm, let’s take a bath.”

Gold’s face scrunched up in question.  ”Wha—”

"A nice, warm, comfortable bath," she interrupted before he could voice any objections.  "You make some tea for the both of us while I get the bath ready."

She waited just long enough to see him nod his head in agreement and took off up the stairs.  He smiled as he turned back to the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove and walked to the side of the room with the little table and the sideboard where they kept the tea pot and cups.  He pulled a tray from inside the sideboard and placed it on the table before pulling out the tea pot and two cups, setting them on the tray.  He decided a nice mint tea would be good for the occasion and pulled out the tin, placing several pinches of the leaves into the mesh filter at the top of the pot.  He heard the kettle approach whistling and walked back to the kitchen to remove it from the heat.  Filling the pot with the hot water, he picked up the tray and made his way upstairs.  Their house,  _their house,_  was a large one, but he knew the only tub she would have considered for this little adventure was the one in the master bath on the top floor.  It was adjoined to their room and had large windows that let in light and two doors that opened up onto a balcony.  He had never chosen this home, but he was glad it was the one he ended up with thirty years ago.

On the top floor, he pushed the bedroom door open with his elbow.  The bathroom door was open and he saw Belle kneeling down in front of the tub.  She smiled up at him.  ”If you don’t mind, I’m just going to hop in now.  I’m so cold, it was difficult to not sit in it while it filled with water.”  Without waiting for an answer, she started pulling off her clothes.

Perhaps if this were a different time, if he weren’t so freezing, Gold might think something of seeing his wife strip in front of him; but he  _was_  freezing and all he could really focus on was how much he wanted to get into that warm water and remember what it’s like when his body could sit still, when his muscles didn’t shake involuntarily against the cold.  So he followed her lead, placed the tea set on a little table near the tub, and started taking off his clothes.

Belle was already sitting in the tub, splashing warm water onto her arms, by the time he was ready to join her.  He carefully slid into the tub behind her.  Without saying anything, she leaned back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.  “‘s warm,” she murmured and her eyes slid shut as feelings of peace and security overcame her.  The storm thundered on outside the window, but in that moment there was only the hot water, her true love’s arms, and the soft sound of his breathing.

Gold let his head fall forward to rest on the back of hers, his nose in her hair.  Her hair was still cold and damp from the rain outside, but it held a faint, sweet smell, like strawberries in summer, a warm relief to hold you in from a chilly reality.  ”Beautiful Belle,” he whispered into her hair.

Belle let out a laugh that sounded more like a snort.  ”You can’t even see me right now, how can you say that I look beautiful.  I’m sure I look a mess.”  She could feel his lips slightly curve up into a smile against her skin.

"You always look beautiful," he responded.

The heat from the tub worked its way into their bodies, warming them up and making the day’s problems seem a million miles away.  Holding each other in the tub, it didn’t matter who was responsible for the storm or what problems they’d have to deal with tomorrow.  For now they had their own little world together, the steam of the bath against the raindrops of the storm.


End file.
